Made with the help of strict privacy guidelines, the Google Assistant Redesign is an experience that aims to enable control of a user's privacy through casual conversation

Brief

People are hesitant to adopt AI systems into their homes due to a lack of trust

Delivered

Primary & Secondary Research, Iteration sketches, Storyboards, Animated Prototype, Video

Tools

Sketch, Principle

Project type

3 person team with Sherrie Guan, and Jie Mi
4 weeks
Worked on prototyping, animations, and research

Guidelines

For this project we researched what principles are followed by prominent companies in the field of AI. In our search we found IBM's Everyday Ethics for Artificial Intelligence to be the most compelling and we decided to design with those guidelines in mind.

Accountability

AI designers and developers are responsible for considering AI design, development, decision processes, and outcomes.

Value Alignment

AI should be designed to align with the norms and values of your user group in mind.

Explainability

AI should be designed for humans to easily perceive, detect, and understand its decision process.

User Data Rights

AI must be designed to protect user data and preserve the user’s power over access and uses

Problem Statement

People are hesitant to adopt AI systems into their homes due to a lack of trust

Opportunity Areas

In home assistant
Total data control
Detailed privacy management

Brief

"How might we establish trust between the user and their digital assistant through better transparency and control of data."

Target Market

Smart speaker owners between the age of 20-40 who are interested in using digital assistants

Research

Discoveries

1. Over 76% of smart speaker owners increased their usage of voice assistants in the last year.

2. Passive touchpoints like smart speakers and smart displays are well suited for conversing with digital assistants.

3. People find it difficult to know exactly what data they are providing and what is being done with it.

Expert interview with 'John'

John is an alias as our interviewee did not want to reveal their identity. They have experience working with data privacy.

1. "After GDPR, every company had a wakeup call. People realized they need digital rights, and there were a few scandals."

2. "Google and Facebook hide the option of deleting personal data."

3. "Everyone is realizing we need data for efficient decisions, directions, and customer treatment."

Insights

1. People could evaluate if they want to provide their data for better services through value alignment.

2. Transparency is a key factor in buliding trust between the user and the machine.

3. Having privacy controls through voice itself changes the tone of the conversation to something more normal and less technical, opening the opportunity for better understanding.